Photo: Ronald Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0How Berkshire stacks up
Only two areas have richer households: in Berkshire, households take in £68,100 a year on average. Its strengths are fast growth (+15% since 2011) and strong schools; its weak spots, real flood risk and homes that cost 6.2 times household income. That balance adds up to an A overall and 9th place among the UK’s areas.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
20th of 65B+70/100 Safe with few exceptions. By police.uk’s count, violent crime here comes to 31.1 offences per 1,000 residents a year, 18% below the England and Wales figure. Charvil leads its towns at #106 of 2,138; 38% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
All recorded crime (anti-social behaviour left out): 71 per 1,000 residents a year, 33rd lowest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Hardly any high-crime towns
Wargrave leads its towns at #174 of 2,138, with Twyford and Sandhurst close behind.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Berkshire | 38% | 0% |
What the two figures count
police.uk places every crime at a street or public place near where it happened, never an address, and we count it where that point falls. The county figure counts violent and sexual offences everywhere in Berkshire, including town centres, stations and shopping streets. Town grades count the crimes that touch residents where they live (violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage), so a town with a busy centre is not marked down for its shoplifting.
Schools
7th of 90A93/100 Strong schools nearly everywhere. At the end of primary school it ranks 5th highest of 47 English counties, with 66% of pupils at the expected standard in all three Rs. Almost no one here lives in a bottom-quarter town; Winnersh and Arborfield Garrison are typical.
At GCSE, pupils average 51.3 on Attainment 8 (3rd highest); the grade counts it as much as the primary results.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Cost of living
84th of 98D14/100 Harder to afford than most areas. Homes cost 6.2 times what the average household takes in a year, 18% above the England and Wales figure: a typical sale of £420,750 against income of £68,100. Woodley leads its towns at #669 of 2,515; 6% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Typical sale price: £420,750 (8,936 sales, 4th highest).
Private rent £1,534 a month (5th highest); Band D council tax £2,388 (39th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Health
8th of 98A93/100 Healthy, town after town. Of a life expectancy of 82.4 years, 68.8 are expected in good health (4th longest among the areas). Nearly every town does well here, Charvil and Wargrave among them. Few places anywhere beat Pangbourne, #3 of 2,515 towns for health.
Total life expectancy is 82.4 years (5th longest).
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Jobs & income
12th of 98A89/100 Well off, town after town. The average household income is £68,100 a year, 22% above the England and Wales figure. Only Surrey and one other area put more town residents in the best-off quarter of towns. Twyford is among the ten best towns in the UK for incomes (#5).
Out-of-work claimants in August 2026: 3.4% of working-age adults (35th highest), weighed with income in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Getting about
17th of 98A−84/100 Walkable overall, with a sharp divide. Reading and Caversham rank among the best towns in the UK for walkability; Bracknell and Woodley sit in the bottom quarter. Berkshire ranks 20th highest for getting to work without a car: 24% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. At the Census, 41% worked mainly from home.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 41% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Flood risk
82nd of 87D6/100 Flooding is the big risk here. The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales put 11,926 homes in its towns at high or medium flood risk, 3.3% of them. It trails all of its neighbours on flood risk. Binfield leads its towns at #365 of 2,452; 3% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 30 Berkshire towns.
Growth
6th of 98A+95/100 Among the fastest-growing areas. The population grew 14.9% between 2011 and 2024, to 992,327, against 10.0% across England and Wales (11th fastest). 68% of town residents live in a top-quarter town; Shinfield ranks highest, at #11.
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +4.3% (14th fastest).
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 23 Berkshire towns.
How Berkshire compares to its neighbours
Each of its neighbours (Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire and London) does better on flood risk.
| Berkshire | Oxfordshire | Hampshire | Surrey | Buckinghamshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | A 889th of 65 | A 917th of 65 | A− 7815th of 65 | A 898th of 65 | A− 8411th of 65 |
| Safety | B+ 7021st official · 38% in top towns | A− 8115th official · 58% in top towns | B 6331st official · 35% in top towns | A 8812th official · 71% in top towns | B+ 7223rd official · 39% in top towns |
| Schools | A 935th official · 64% in top towns | B 6417th official · 13% in top towns | B− 5228th official · 13% in top towns | A+ 972nd official · 72% in top towns | A− 843rd official · 19% in top towns |
| Cost of living | D 1489th official · 6% in top towns | C− 1887th official · 12% in top towns | C 3178th official · 34% in top towns | D− 097th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1690th official · 13% in top towns |
| Health | A 934th official · 58% in top towns | A+ 973rd official · 88% in top towns | A 8510th official · 49% in top towns | A+ 982nd official · 98% in top towns | A 894th official · 39% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | A 893rd official · 80% in top towns | A+ 986th official · 87% in top towns | A 918th official · 49% in top towns | A+ 992nd official · 99% in top towns | A− 775th official · 34% in top towns |
| Getting about | A− 8420th official · 23% in top towns | A 949th official · 37% in top towns | B+ 6933rd official · 3% in top towns | A− 8123rd official · 14% in top towns | C 3159th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | D 650th official · 3% in top towns | C 2937th official · 16% in top towns | C+ 4031st official · 20% in top towns | C− 1751st official · 18% in top towns | B+ 7310th official · 24% in top towns |
| Growth | A+ 9511th official · 68% in top towns | A 905th official · 40% in top towns | B+ 6539th official · 23% in top towns | B+ 6730th official · 22% in top towns | A+ 974th official · 73% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.